Let's just assume that Hellgate: London is Diablo 3 and that Brian Sullivan left Ensemble to make a game that he could play until Hellgate: London came out... since Blizzard obviously has no interest in trying to cash in on Diablo one last time. Well, he did and the result was Titan Quest. Now, why did I choose 2.75 instead of 2.5 as the sequel number? Well, it's good. It's more than Diablo 2.5. I hope you weren't expecting a better description. Let's just say that after roughly 9 and 1/2 hours of playing, I'm happy with the purchase. It's already paid for itself in the form of sweet sweet lewts. Read on for the lists.

Oh, and also nice job with the new review rubric. I like it. It's very short and to the point, and tells me exactly what I need to know about the game.

Also, ++ for lack of mental masturbation. Gamespy had 2 pages of blah blah blah that I couldn't be bothered with. I then went to IGN for another comparison....Wow, when did they change their format? If it was ass before, it's tubgirl now - Way too much shit. What are they trying to be, a site for All Media? Why would I go to IGN to read about the new Mercedes-Benz CL-class? I feel like I need to wash my rods and cones with acid or something. Oh yeah, their review was also shit.

...But I may have to pick the game up after reading the review here, then seeing screenies - I'm a sucker for anything close to Greco-Roman.

Fear the Backstab!"Plato said the virtuous man is at all times ready for a grammar snake attack." - we are lesion"Hell is other people." -Sartre

Oh, and also nice job with the new review rubric. I like it. It's very short and to the point, and tells me exactly what I need to know about the game.

/em agrees

I didn't see this in your review: Is there a multiplayer option? I know that seems like a stupid question in this era of "omgz our new game must have mp for us to get the fat publishing $$$". But, if I'm going to talk my brother into buying it (presumably after those annoying loot bugs you mentioned get patched), it would help to be sure it's multiplayer :)

Plant yourself like a treeHaven't you noticed? We've been sharing our culture with you all morning.The sun will shine on us again, brother

There's also a nicely integrated cooperative element to Titan Quest, which lets you take the hero from your single-player campaign online without interrupting your offline quest progression. When you're selecting your hero character from the main menu, you can select to join an existing multiplayer game, at which point you're brought to the game's built-in browser, or you can start your own, choosing the number of allowable players, the level range that a player has to fall within to join the game, and whether the game is password protected. Once you get online, you'll pick up the game right where you last left it, and other players can join and drop out at will, which means that you can easily recruit up to five other players to help you through a section that's been giving you trouble, then go back to playing solo as you please. It's solid, and there are a lot of skills within the different masteries that seem tailor-made for online, making it worthwhile to seek out a diverse party. At the same time, there are aspects to the coop that seem antiquated, specifically the inability to define specific loot rules--as it is, any item on the ground is fair game for any player.

So it does have multiplayer. I told you it was a stupid question :)

Plant yourself like a treeHaven't you noticed? We've been sharing our culture with you all morning.The sun will shine on us again, brother

So if I buy this I get to gank phat lewtz from Schild? If so, I might be very interested.

A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.-William Gibson

-Explain how multiplayer matchmaking works, how many PC's can be in a game max?-Socketing and/or Cube-type systems? Are there any?-Do all items effect character appearance? Are the items visually varied?

A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.-William Gibson

-Explain how multiplayer matchmaking works, how many PC's can be in a game max?-Socketing and/or Cube-type systems? Are there any?-Do all items effect character appearance? Are the items visually varied?

Match making? It uses Gamespy or some shit. I never, ever, ever play coop titles like this with strangers. There's no fun in playing this in legendary mode with someone you don't know. It defeats the entire purpose.

Yes, there's a heavy collection system. Items aren't socketed so much as you can apply relics and charms to them. And instead of a Horardric Cube, you just apply charms and relics of the same type to eachother to increase the potency. The relics are based on godlike items or powers (like Dionysus' Wineskin or somesuch) and the charms are based on parts of animals/creatures. Or at least, that's what I've seen thus far.

Items effect character appearance. Being on chapter 1, that appearance hasn't changed much of course. I'm in a pretty peasanty looking robe right now. But that may be because I'm a full caster. I haven't even taken my second class yet, I'm maxing out my liche king in the spirit tree first. From what I've seen, it looks like it could easily get as varied as the starting shit armor in Diablo all the way up to the Bone Armor template and then some. Oh, and item sets have unique appearances it seems. I can't wear the ones I have but the graphics on them are unique (I have 2 of the pieces from the Theban Panoply, a warrior set).

As for the other parts and bits I left out in my sleep deprived state:1. I can not confirm nor deny the existance of PVP. But it would be stupid all things considered if it weren't toggled in the future. Multiplayer maps that are just giant arenas would kick ass. I've seen tilesets to make such a thing in game already.2. You know how there were five towns in all of Diablo 2? In the first chapter of this game, there are at LEAST 5 major towns and 4-7 smaller hamlets of sorts. Also, there are a few places where merchants and other NPCs will just be out in the woods.3. The scale was 7-9.4. My car is a 2002 Acura RSX Type-S and no, you can't steal it.5. I have acquired FRAPS. If Ookii is up for a few hours after I get home from work, I'll set up a gallery of the game.6. @Tazelbain - The performance doesn't suck. Just turn your settings down. If the performance sucks in this game, you simply overestimate the power of your computer. I know my computer is a piece of shit and even I can run this at a higher level than I thought possible.7. Yes, the sound across the board is better than Diablo.8. Monsters do drop weapons they are using, but I'm not sure if uniques and set items show up as uniques on them. Monsters seem to draw from a template pool in terms of what they're carrying.

Edit: Oh, and just like Diablo, as you advance throught he game, there's sort of a natural curve on the base type of level and armor available. Most recently I went from Pupil stuff for my finger wiggler to Scholar stuff.

EDIT: Also, what role do the different deities play? Are they just a part of the plot, or do they somehow have an effect on actual gameplay? Like choosing a deity, and having different skill choices because of it?

« Last Edit: June 29, 2006, 04:15:32 PM by Strazos »

Fear the Backstab!"Plato said the virtuous man is at all times ready for a grammar snake attack." - we are lesion"Hell is other people." -Sartre

6. @Tazelbain - The performance doesn't suck. Just turn your settings down. If the performance sucks in this game, you simply overestimate the power of your computer. I know my computer is a piece of shit and even I can run this at a higher level than I thought possible.

I have played PC games before. This engine makes EQ2 engine seen peppy and it doesn't look as nice. Thats a pretty low bar.

Re: PVP: If it's not in there yet (I'll be picking up my copy tomorrow and we can confirm schild), but the game is extremely moddable. Also, if there is PVP, except lots of whining since I don't think there is a central system to prevent the b.net fuckmuffins from messing shit up.

Oh, I could go for some multiplayer. Hell yea, tomorrow is my day off. I plan on playing this godforsaken game for the next two days. There's really no way a new Diablo type is safe for me to play. I played Fate for a good 80 hours in the course of a few weeks. 11PM CAN NOT COME SOON ENOUGH.

DAMN I knew I forgot something. ON THE OTHER HAND, the inventory gets extra bags that are sizeable as you get levels. it looks as though it happens every 10 or 12 levels. With so many towns I thought it was quite well paced really. Remember, this game has roughly twice the amount of loot that Diablo 2 had. So be careful to manage the inventory well. I actually love the inventory management aspect created by dumping the stash.